We have never been to Trujillo - Banana Coast

[rharvey999]

We have never done this stop before and am having some difficulty finding much about it. Can anyone share their experiences. We are there in mid-February on the Vision of the Seas. Thanks.

[lifes-a-beach]

Vision is one of our favorite vessels. We sail on her in March from Galveston. Anyway, someone asked about Trujillo in the Roatan forum. Here is my reply. I hope it helps.

 

I know you said you were looking for recent info but I thought I would pass along what our experience was in November of 2014. We were aboard NCL and it was, I think, their second cruise that stopped there. Trujillo was a very third-world town at that time and I’ll bet it hasn’t changed much. I had run across some information about Banana Beach Resort and it looked promising. The expat owner was from Dallas and his daughter had recently graduated fro UT and was marketing the resort. She is also a published author of, as I recall, children’s books. Anyway I contacted them via email and arranged to meet up with someone for a bus trip to the resort for the day. When we arrived we were tendered on the lifeboats, a first for us. There wasn’t much in the port area and they had just been hit with a tropical depression that dumped a bunch of rain so the place was a mud hole. We walked out the gate of the port area and found the little building with a big Banana Beach sign. Once everyone else got there (maybe 20 of us) we loaded into an old yellow school bus and drove a pretty good distance to the resort, maybe 30 minutes. At that time it was very isolated and likely still is. There was a small pool as well as a beach area. Service was awesome and the food was terrific, very authentic to the area. I remember there being a little bar out on the beach but we don’t drink alcohol so I can’t comment about the drinks. The owner was around the bar area but he was hammered. There was another guy there, a really nice German man that was running the show. We stayed for like 5 hours and I remember the bus driver being asleep under a tree when it was time to go back to Trujillo. Once we got all the drunk people back on the bus we headed back.

 

Trujillo was very primitive. Sheep and goats wandering around in the streets. We made 9, yes nine, water crossings in the bus on our way to and from the resort. At each one there were people washing their clothes and bathing. We were told that after days and days of downpours everyone was trying to catch up on laundry. It was truly an amazing day and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Just don’t expect Roatan. This is probably what Roatan used to be like.

 

Banana Beach Resort has lots of reviews out there for you to check out. In 2014 it was about all there was there. Good luck.

[OCruisers]

Thanks so much "lifes-a-beach" for your great reply/review! (y)

[jackg962]

I wish there were more post's on this port!

[rharvey999]

I promise that after we return the second week of February I'll give you what we found.  We have only scheduled about an hour and a half historical walking tour.  I am confident we will find out more.

[lifes-a-beach]

On 1/27/2019 at 11:26 AM, rharvey999 said:

I promise that after we return the second week of February I'll give you what we found.  We have only scheduled about an hour and a half historical walking tour.  I am confident we will find out more.

I hope y’all had a great time.  I had forgotten about this thread but look forward to your perspective. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by lifes-a-beach

[rharvey999]

Well as it turned out Trujillo, last year at this time,   was not what we could have possibly wished for.  It was the first time Royal Caribbean had been there.  The use of tendering was required but was not the best way.  Two of the tender crafts ran aground at the port and a few others also had difficulties (the tenders were not from the ship).

We had scheduled a walking tour in the older part of the city.  We had to wait well over an hour at the bus stop.  The worst part was the lack of concrete roads.  The dust and dirt created a cloud that very few could tolerate for any extensive period of time.  As I have had lung problems in the past this ended up by me needing to go the hospital when we got home for 5 days.  Ugh.

 

Walking through the town was interesting because of its history.  But by the time we got to the downtown area (downtown was small) most of the folk wanted to get back on the bus to get back to the ship.  There was little time to do anything because of the lack of available transportation.

 

I recognize a new port with such as Trujillo could not have had the experience nor facilities for cruisers in its recent opening.  I wish them well but I can guarantee I will not return there until I am convinced they have gotten their stuff together.

 

[lifes-a-beach]

Thanks for your reply.  I can imagine that the dust could be bad if it were dry.  As it was when we were there the entire place was a mud hole from the tropical storm.  I didn’t mention this in my original reply but the very first ship to go there was a few days before our stop and we were told they had a rather large parade and celebration in the town square with guests of honor including the mayor and the ship Captain.  They really wanted to make it work but I don’t even see it as an option now.  

 

I hope you have have recovered from the dust and will enjoy many other adventures.